Stanton Drew stone circles

Stanton Drew stone circles
Location	near Stanton Drew and Bristol
Region	Somerset, England
Coordinates	51.367797°N 2.575257°W / 51.367797; -2.575257
Type	Henge monument
Site notes
Condition	intact
Website	reference Megalithic Portal

The Stanton Drew stone circles are at grid reference ST600633 just outside the village of Stanton Drew, Somerset. The largest stone circle is the Great Circle, 113 m in diameter and the second largest stone circle in Britain (after Avebury); it is considered to be one of the largest and most impressive Neolithic monuments to have been built. The Great Circle probably consisted of 30 stones, of which 27 survive today, and was surrounded by the ditch (approximately 135m outer diameter — now filled in) of a henge. The North East Circle is 30 m in diameter and probably consisted of 10 or more stones, of which 8 survive today. The South West Circle is 43 m in diameter, and has 12 stones surviving today.

Standing Stone at Stanton Drew

The monument

The most famous feature is the Great Circle, the second largest stone circle in Britain (after Avebury). The stone circle is 113 m in diameter and probably consisted of 30 stones, of which 27 survive today. It was recorded by both John Aubrey and William Stukeley. An avenue extends to the north east of the Great Circle towards the River Chew and a second avenue meets it from the north eastern stone circle.

A (now recumbent) standing stone called Hautville's Quoit lies across the river to the north on an alignment with the centres of the Great Circle and the southern circle. A large stone close to Hautville Quoit Farm, recumbent since at least the mid 17th century but assumed to have originally been upright. Described by Stukeley in 1723 as being 13 feet long, it is now about half that length, Grinsell suggesting that fragments have occasionally been broken off for mending the roads. Stukeley also referred to the presence of a second stone.

Further to the west is a cove of two standing stones with a recumbent slab between them, which can be found in the garden of the Druid's Arms public house. All are of different heights, the back stone being 4.4 metres, the south western 3.1 metres, and the north eastern 1.4 metres. The stones of the cove are mineralogically different from those in the nearby stone circles.

Excavations

A postcard from 1886 showing a Standing Stone at Stanton Drew

In 1740 the site was surveyed and mapped by John Wood, the Elder, who noted the different stones used and suggesting the layout was based on the Pythagorean planetary system.

In the mid 17th century, after one of the stones had fallen, human bones and an object described as a "round bell, like a large horse-bell" were found. While human burial at the foot of a standing stone is by no means unknown, the "bell", whatever it is, suggests some caution over assigning a date to the burial. A 'bronze serpent ring' has also been found here.

A surface collection of Neolithic implements were found in a field about a quarter of a mile from the Stanton Drew monument complex. The flints were given to Taunton Museum in 1920-21, but only a single petit-tranchet derivative arrowhead seems to survive from the collection.

Geophysical survey

Geophysical work by English Heritage in 1997 revealed a surrounding ditch and nine concentric rings of postholes within the stone circle. More than 400 pits, 1 m across and at 2.5 m intervals, stood in rings at the site. The ditch is 135 m in diameter and about 7 m wide. A 40 m wide entrance was visible on the north east side. No surrounding bank has been identified although the site awaits excavation.

The geophysical work transformed the traditional view of Stanton Drew as being a surface monument and the Great Circle is now seen as being one of the largest and most impressive Neolithic monuments to have been built. Analogous with the circles of postholes at sites at Woodhenge, Durrington Walls and The Sanctuary, it is thought that the pits would have held posts which would have either been freestanding or lintelled as they could not have supported a roof at that size. The postholes in nine concentric rings held posts up to 1 metre (3.3 ft) in diameter.

Nearby and to the north east is a smaller ring of 8 stones in the centre of which the geophysical work identified four further pits. A third ring of 12 stones, measuring 43 m wide, stands to the south west.

A fluxgate gradiometer survey in July 2009 investigated standing stones in the garden of the Druids Arms public house known as The Cove, which showed that the stones date from nearly 1000 years before the stone circles. The conclusion from the study was that these upright stones are likely to have been the portals or façade of a chambered tomb.

In 2010 a further survey was carried out by Bath and Camerton Archaeological Society and the Bath and North East Somerset Archaeological Officer. This involved high data density magnetometer, resistance pseudosection profiles and photographic surveys showed a new henge entrance and further detail of post holes.

Myths about Stanton Drew

Being a henge and stone circle site, astronomical alignments are a common theory to explain the positioning of the stones at Stanton Drew. Similarly, less well evidenced theories relating to ley lines.

Theories suggest the site was dedicated to funerary ritual. There are several local traditional stories about the megalithic complex. The best known tells how a wedding party was turned to stone: the party was held throughout Saturday, but a man clothed in black (the Devil in disguise) came and started to play his violin for the merrymakers after midnight, continuing into holy Sunday morning. When dawn broke, everybody had been turned to stone by the Demon: so the stone circles are the dancers, the avenues are the fiddlers and the Cove is the bride and the groom with the drunken churchman at their feet. They are still awaiting the Devil who promised to come back someday and play again for them.

Wade and Wade in their 1929 book "Somerset" suggest:

One of the curiosities of the place is Hautville's Quoit, which, to save time, should also be looked for on approaching the village. (Enter iron gate on L. a few hundred yards before reaching tollhouse, and search backwards along the hedge bordering road.) It is a large stone, which legend says was hurled by Sir J. Hautville (whose effigy is in Chew Magna Church) from the top of Maes Knoll. The famous "druidical remains" will be found near the church. About 50 yards from the entrance to the churchyard take a lane to the L. leading to an orchard: the stones will be observed in the field beyond (admission free, but field closed on Sundays). The "remains" consist of three contiguous circles. The first is of considerable area, and is marked out by twelve large stones, only three of which remain upright; a smaller circle of eight stones lies just beyond; and a third circle of eight will be found farther away in an orchard on the R. The two larger circles have each a few scattered stones thrown off as a kind of avenue. Standing apart from the circles is a curious group of three stones huddled together in a garden abutting on the churchyard, from which they can be easily seen by looking over the W. boundary wall. These mystic rings probably had the same origin (whatever that may have been) as that of the more famous circle at Avebury in Wiltshire, with which they should be compared. The proximity of Maes Knoll is comparable with that of Silbury Hill. A ridiculous theory suggests that the monoliths were erected as a trophy after one of Arthur's victories. Arthur is connected to the site because a site in the nearby village of Camerley is reputed to be the location of Camelot in an oral tradition. The stones are of a reddish hue similar to that described in the Arthurian legend as connected to Camelot and to a sword that was seen in a stone near to Camelot. The country story is that a local wedding once took place on a Sunday, when the frivolous guests would insist on winding up with a dance. The penalty for a "Sabbath" thus "profaned" was the prompt transformation of the bridal party into stone. Hence the local appellation of "The fiddlers and the maids".

North East Circle

External links

• English Heritage's geophysical work with images
• On Stanton Drew, Avebury and Stonehenge
• English Heritage: Stanton Drew Circles and Cove

Bibliography

Dymond, C.W. (1896). Ancient remains at Stanton Drew in the county of Somerset. Oakmagic Publications. ISBN 1-904330-07-X. 

Grinsell, Leslie Valentine (1956). Stanton Drew stone circles : [M.O.W. official guide]. ASIN B0000CJGPA. 

Grinsell, Leslie Valentine (1973). The folklore of Stanton Drew. St. Peter Port, Guernsey, C.I.: Toucan Press,. ISBN 0-85694-041-0. 

Grinsell, Leslie Valentine (1994). Megalithic Monuments of Stanton Drew. LV Grinsell. ISBN 0-9523020-0-4. 

Legg, Rodney. Stanton Drew: Great Western Temple. Dorset Publishing Company. ISBN 0-948699-64-7. 

Morgan, LLoyd C. The stones of Stanton Drew : their source and origin. 

Sibree, Ernest (1919). The Stanton Drew stones.